Jeremiah 9–11

9^{1 m}Oh that my head were waters,

and my eyes a fountain of tears,

that I might weep day and night

for the slain of ^jthe daughter of my people!

²² Oh that I had in the desert

a travelers’ lodging place,

that I might leave my people

and go away from them!

For they are all ⁿadulterers,

a company of ^otreacherous men.

^3pThey bend their tongue like a bow;

falsehood and not truth has grown strong³ in the land;

for they proceed from evil to evil,

^qand they do not know me, declares the Lord.

^4rLet everyone beware of his neighbor,

and put no trust in any brother,

for every ^sbrother is a deceiver,

and every neighbor ^tgoes about as a slanderer.

⁵Everyone deceives his neighbor,

and no one speaks the truth;

they have taught their tongue to speak lies;

they weary themselves committing iniquity.

⁶Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,

^uthey refuse to know me, declares the Lord.

⁷Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Behold, ^vI will refine them and ^wtest them,

for what else can I do, ^jbecause of my people?

^8xTheir tongue is a deadly arrow;

^yit speaks deceitfully;

with his mouth ^zeach speaks peace to his neighbor,

but in his heart ^ahe plans an ambush for him.

^9bShall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord,

and shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?

¹⁰“I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,

and a lamentation for ^cthe pastures of the wilderness,

^dbecause they are laid waste so that no one passes through,

and the lowing of cattle is not heard;

^eboth the birds of the air and the beasts

have fled and are gone.

^11fI will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

^ga lair of jackals,

^hand I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,

without inhabitant.”

¹²ⁱWho is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined ^jand laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? ¹³And the Lord says: ^k“Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, ¹⁴but ^lhave stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. ¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^mBehold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them ⁿpoisonous water to drink. ^16oI will scatter them among the nations ^pwhom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will ^qsend the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”

¹⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^r“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;

send for the skillful women to come;

¹⁸let them make haste ^sand raise a wailing over us,

^tthat our eyes may run down with tears

and our eyelids flow with water.

¹⁹For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

^u‘How we are ruined!

We are utterly shamed,

because we have left the land,

because they have cast down our dwellings.’ ”

²⁰Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,

and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;

teach to your daughters a lament,

and each to her neighbor a dirge.

²¹For death has come up into our windows;

it has entered our palaces,

^vcutting off the children from the streets

and the young men from the squares.

²²Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,

^w‘The dead bodies of men shall fall

like dung upon the open field,

^xlike sheaves after the reaper,

and none shall gather them.’ ”

²³Thus says the Lord: ^y“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, ²⁴but ^zlet him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. ^aFor in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

²⁵“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^bI will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— ^26cEgypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and ^dall who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ^euncircumcised in heart.”

Idols and the Living God

10Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. ²Thus says the Lord:

“Learn not the way of the nations,

nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens

because the nations are dismayed at them,

^3ffor the customs of the peoples are vanity.¹

^gA tree from the forest is cut down

and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

^4hThey decorate it with silver and gold;

ⁱthey fasten it with hammer and nails

so that it cannot move.

⁵Their idols² are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,

and ^jthey cannot speak;

^kthey have to be carried,

for they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them,

^lfor they cannot do evil,

neither is it in them to do good.”

^6mThere is none like you, O Lord;

you are great, and your name is great in might.

⁷ⁿWho would not fear you, O King of the nations?

For this is your due;

for among all the wise ones of the nations

and in all their kingdoms

there is none like you.

^8oThey are both ^pstupid and foolish;

the instruction of idols is but wood!

^9qBeaten silver is brought from ^rTarshish,

and gold from ^sUphaz.

^qThey are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;

their clothing is violet and purple;

^tthey are all the work of skilled men.

^10uBut the Lord is the true God;

^vhe is the living God and the everlasting King.

At his wrath the earth quakes,

and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

¹¹Thus shall you say to them: ^w“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth ^xshall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”³

^12yIt is he who ^zmade the earth by his power,

^zwho established the world by his wisdom,

and ^aby his understanding stretched out the heavens.

^13bWhen he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

^cand he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

^cHe makes lightning ^dfor the rain,

^cand he brings forth the wind ^efrom his storehouses.

^14fEvery man is stupid and without knowledge;

^gevery goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

for his images are false,

^hand there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are worthless, a work of delusion;

at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

¹⁶Not like these is he who is ⁱthe portion of Jacob,

for he is the one who formed all things,

^jand Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

^kthe Lord of hosts is his name.

^17lGather up your bundle from the ground,

O you who dwell under siege!

¹⁸For thus says the Lord:

^m“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land

at this time,

ⁿand I will bring distress on them,

that they may feel it.”

¹⁹Woe is me because of my hurt!

^oMy wound is grievous.

But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,

and I must bear it.”

^20pMy tent is destroyed,

and all my cords are broken;

my children have gone from me,

^qand they are not;

there is no one to spread my tent again

and ^pto set up my curtains.

^21rFor the shepherds ^sare stupid

and do not inquire of the Lord;

therefore they have not prospered,

^tand all their flock is scattered.

²²A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—

^ua great commotion out of the north country

to make ^vthe cities of Judah a desolation,

^va lair of jackals.

^23wI know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,

that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

^24xCorrect me, O Lord, but in justice;

not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

^25yPour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,

and on the peoples that call not on your name,

^zfor they have devoured Jacob;

they have devoured him and consumed him,

and have laid waste his habitation.

The Broken Covenant

11The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ^2a“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^bCursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant ⁴that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, ^cfrom the iron furnace, saying, ^dListen to my voice, and do all that I command you. ^dSo shall you be my people, and I will be your God, ^5ethat I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, ^fto give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

⁶And the Lord said to me, ^g“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ^hHear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, ⁱwarning them persistently, even to this day, saying, ^dObey my voice. ^8jYet they did not obey or incline their ear, ^kbut everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all ^hthe words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

⁹Again the Lord said to me, ^l“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have turned back to ^mthe iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. ^mThey have gone after other gods to serve them. ⁿThe house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. ¹¹Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. ^oThough they cry to me, I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^pwill go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ^pbut they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. ^13pFor your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, ^qaltars to make offerings to Baal.

¹⁴“Therefore ^rdo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ^ofor I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. ^15sWhat right has my beloved in my house, ^twhen she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? ^uCan you then exult? ¹⁶The Lord…